Stand by me
by The Petit Filous Girl
Summary: 10 oneshots, each centered around one pairing.
1. James and Lily

A/N: Written for Kore-of-Myth's 100 Pairing Challenge. Title comes from an Oasis song. I don't own that or Harry Potter.

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Stand by me

A morose looking James Potter shuffled into the Gryffindor Common room and threw himself into an armchair. His friends, sitting on a nearby sofa playing exploding snap (or, in Remus's case, reading), noticed this and immediately came over.

"Hi guys," James mumbled sullenly.

"What did Lily say this time?" Sirius said with a smirk. Whenever James was this sulky it was always because Lily had rejected him yet again.

"She said she'd never ever go out with me and that I'm the most unpleasant human being ever to walk this earth."

"Well look at the bright side," Sirius said cheerfully, "at least she's not comparing you with the giant squid anymore!"

Remus glared at Sirius, then said to James, "I'm sure she'll come round."

"But she won't!" James exclaimed, leaping up from his seat. "I've tried everything! This is our last year of school. I've changed since a few years ago: I don't hex so many people; I'm less arrogant; I've even become Head Boy! But is that good enough for Lily Evans? No! The worst thing is, I'm falling in love with her and she won't even give me a chance!" With that, James stormed upstairs to the boys' dormitory.

The marauders exchanged worried looks.

"He can't be falling in love, he's only seventeen!" Peter said nervously.

"That's it!" came a shout from the top of the stairs. James rushed down and shouted again, "That's it! I've come up with the best plan ever to get Lily! I need to go to the library!" In an instant James was gone, running out through the portrait hole heading to the library. The other marauders, confused, followed him.

In the library James made beeline for the shelves. He searched through the titles, trying to find one particular book. Sirius, Remus and Peter, not sure what to do, sat down at a table.

"Aha! Found it!" James grabbed the book and sat down at the table with his friends. Reading the title of the book, Sirius's eyes widened in horror.

"Why on earth are you reading 'Hogwarts: a History'? Has Moony converted you to geekism?"

"Just because I'm interested in the history of our school doesn't mean I'm a geek," Remus retorted primly.

James ignored their bickering and rifled through the book. He stopped when he found the page about the enchanted ceiling.

"Seriously Prongs, what are you doing?"

James replied, not once glancing up from the book, "It's part of my plan."

"I'm not sure Lily will fall for you just because you're reading a book," Peter said.

James sighed and tore his gaze from the pages. He glared at the other marauders and forcefully said, "Can you lot just leave me alone? I'm doing something important!"

Hurt, Sirius muttered, "Fine, we'll leave." Soon James was left alone in the library.

That night, James didn't go to bed at all. His friends worried slightly but they knew James was probably just doing his crazy scheme. One night he hadn't come up to the dormitory and the next day Hogwarts was filled with 'JP+LE 4ever' graffiti.

The next day, an exhausted looking James met up with his friends at breakfast.

"So, when are we going to see your 'plan'?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"Soon enough," James replied smugly.

Throughout the day they continued like this, James ignoring all their questions about his mysterious plan. However, at dinner time James seemed a lot more nervous so the marauders were sure that his plan would soon unfold.

And it did. As soon as Lily walked into the hall with a group of friends the whole ceiling suddenly went pitch black. Exclaims of shock echoed through the hall but before anyone could do anything about it a star appeared in the ceiling. The one solitary star was joined by more and more. Everyone watched the ceiling as the stars formed a heart shape. Then, more stars appeared inside the heart, forming words. When the message was finally finished, everyone gaped at the ceiling. James, whose wand had been mysteriously pointed at the ceiling, was now sitting proudly admiring the ceiling. The message read:

_Lily, I love you. JP_

Stunned silence filled the hall. Everybody was looking from the ceiling to James to Lily who was stock still with a dazed expression on her face. Her eyes sparkled with tears and she tore her gaze from the ceiling. Abruptly, Lily began striding purposefully towards James.

"James, will you go out with me?" The words tumbled from her mouth as she reached where James was sitting.

His eyes widened in shock. For a while he said nothing. With a sigh, Sirius whacked his friend on the head.

James snapped out of his daze and quickly stuttered, "OK Lily."

Lily walked out of the hall and the ceiling changed back to normal. Conversation came back to normal slowly, people still shocked by what had happened. James sat, staring into space for a while, saying nothing. Suddenly he leapt up and bellowed, "YES!" Hysterically James ran out of the hall, yelling in triumph.

"Why must he always make a scene?" Remus muttered, shaking his head.

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A/N: I know it's a bit over the top for James to be able to enchant the entire ceiling. He was a good wizard though, and I've always thought he'd get Lily by doing something really romantic. Please review!


	2. Ron and Hermione

A/N: Well here's the second chapter. I combined this chapter with EphemeralxEternity's Beatles Song Challenge. R&R.

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Stand by me

Ron walked into the kitchen of the apartment he shared with the love of his life. They'd been married for a few months now and Ron felt like the luckiest man in the world. His wife (Ron felt a jolt of happiness from being able to call her his wife) was in the kitchen, making breakfast whilst humming a light hearted tune that Ron didn't recognize.

Walking up behind Hermione, Ron wrapped his arms round her waist.

"Good morning beautiful," he murmured into her bushy hair.

She turned around to face him and smiled. "Good morning to you too, love." With a peck on Ron's cheek Hermione went back to preparing breakfast.

"You sit down at the table," Hermione ordered, "I'm making eggs and bacon, your favorite."

"Thanks Mione," Ron replied as he picked up the Daily Prophet and sat down at the table.

Ron began to read the paper and Hermione began humming that tune again. When Hermione had finished cooking and sat down at the table next to Ron, steaming plates in front of both of them, Ron looked up from the paper.

"What was that song you were humming?" he asked.

Hermione, who had a mouthful of egg, swallowed before replying, "It's called 'I will'. It's a Beatles song."

"A beetle's song?" Ron looked puzzled. "But beetles can't sing!"

"Ronald," Hermione sighed, wearing a smile, "Not beetles as in insects. There's a muggle band called 'The Beatles' and they're very famous, you know."

"Why on earth would anyone name their band after an insect? I suppose it's better than 'The Spiders'." Ron shuddered and Hermione giggled.

"My dad loves 'The Beatles' and he used to play their songs all the time when I was young."

"I only asked what the song was because it sounded good," said Ron. "Will you sing it to me?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I don't think so. I'm an dreadful singer!"

Throughout breakfast Ron pestered Hermione to sing him the song, but she just read the paper, ignoring him. However, Ron was persistent. All through the day he continued to plead, whine and sulk in order to get Hermione to sing for him. As it was a Sunday, they both had the day off so Hermione couldn't escape Ron's childishness. Even when they visited Harry and his slightly pregnant wife Ginny, Ron kept on dropping subtle hints to Hermione, much to her annoyance and Harry and Ginny's amusement.

"What are you talking about Ron?" Ginny asked when Ron started muttering about the Beatles.

"Don't you dare tell them Ron!" Hermione hissed and would have added on a nasty threat but was interrupted by Ron.

"Hermione was humming a song earlier but won't sing it!"

Hermione glared at Ron as Harry and Ginny too began pestering Hermione to sing.

"I will not sing, not now, not ever!"

Later, Ron and Hermione apparated back to their home. Hermione got out a book and settled down to read it, while Ron went to bed, wanting an early night to prepare for work the next day.

When she tired of reading, Hermione put away her book and crept upstairs. Changing into her pajamas, she watched Ron sleep. He looked so adorable and at peace, with his mouth hanging slightly open in that wonderful gormless way of his. Perched on the bed next to him and began to sing softly:

_Who knows how long I've loved you  
You know I love you still  
Will I wait a lonely lifetime  
If you want me to, I will.  
_

She continued to sing the song she'd hummed earlier, gently stroking her love's red hair. As she reached the end, she smiled and was about to lie down and go to sleep also when, to her shock, Ron's eyes snapped open. He smirked and she gasped.

"You're awake?"

"I've been awake since you came in," he replied, cheeky grin on his face.

Hermione scowled and huffily turned her back on Ron. He reached put and hugged her.

"You sing beautifully," he whispered.

"Really?"

"Of course. I love your voice."

Hermione smiled. "One thing, though."

"What is it love?" Ron asked sleepily.

"I'm not singing to Harry or Ginny."

"Fair enough," replied Ron with a chuckle. Both of them slept peacefully that night.


	3. Remus and Tonks

A/N: This chapter was sort of inspired by one line from the Snow Patrol song Signal Fire.

'_In the confusion and the afterlife, you are my signal fire'_

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Stand by me

Tonks was frantically searching for the reason she'd come to Hogwarts that night and left her baby with her mother. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to Tonks was Remus but she had no idea what had happened to him or where he was.

"Have you seen Remus?" she called out to Aberforth who hurried past, leading a group of students.

"He was dueling Dolohov. Haven't seen him since," came the reply.

Tonks's insides froze. He couldn't be… Tonks ran after Aberforth ignoring Ginny's assurances that he'd be OK. _Remus! _The thought pounded through Tonks's head as she sprinted along.

As she reached the great hall, Tonks realized that it was going to be a tough battle. Death Eaters had made their way in and chaos filled the building Tonks had once considered almost a home. Everyone dueled fiercely trying to survive. People were falling all around. However, Tonks ignored the screams of the dying, the flashes of curses. She whipped her head around trying to find…

There, in the corner. A figure wearing shabby brown robes lay still.

"No," Tonks gasped, hardly daring to believe. She rushed over to the person and recognized him in an instant, looking a lot more peaceful than she'd seen him in a long time.

"Please Remus," Tonks whispered, crouching over his body. "Don't be dead."

Her voice broke on the last word and tears streamed down her face. She stroked his face. Why did it have to be him? Her whole world had been blown apart.

"Aww, mud blood filth misses her doggy," cackled a jeering voice that Tonks recognized immediately. She turned around and stood up to face her Aunt Bellatrix. Strangely, rather than hatred and anger coursing through her, or even fear, Tonks felt nothing apart from perhaps a slight amount of pity.

"You'll soon be reunited," Bellatrix sneered nastily. Quietly Tonks sighed. She knew she was facing death in the eye and was regretful of the things she hadn't done. Death would mean being with her beloved, yet it would mean never seeing her son again. The thought of not being able to raise her Teddy filled Tonks with so much remorse.

"When you kill someone, don't you care at all?" Tonks asked Bellatrix quietly. "Do you ever feel anything?"

Bellatrix raised her wand, eyes blazing with anger. She didn't need to speak the curse, but wordlessly sent a jet of green light towards her niece. Tonks closed her eyes and was hit with the killing curse, falling to the ground next to Remus. She died too swiftly to hear Bellatrix's faint reply of "no".

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When she opened her eyes Tonks felt a wave of emotions, the foremost being confused. She was unsure where she was or what was going on. Tonks blinked as she took in the sight before her. She was stood on the edge of a cliff facing a wide stretch of blackness. Dotted in the blackness were many of the brightest, most beautiful stars Tonks had ever seen. She wanted to get closer to the stars but was too afraid of falling from the cliff to move forward.

Then suddenly he was there next to her. She had no idea where he'd come from but the place had such a dreamlike quality that Tonks couldn't be bothered to question it. Instead, she gasped at Remus's appearance. He positively glowed. Much younger than she'd ever seen him, his smile was wide and peaceful.

"Remus," she whispered, "What's going on? Do I have to jump? I don't know if I can," her voice broke and she lowered her head. "I'm scared."

"It's alright love," Remus said, pulling Tonks into a hug. Reassured by his warmth, Tonks smiled slightly.

When they parted Remus said simply, "We'll jump together." He held out his hand and Tonks took it. With a glance behind her, Tonks knew what she had to do. Holding tightly to Remus's hand she leapt. For a moment she was falling, rushing to the darkness below. Then, as suddenly as she'd jumped, they were flying. Soaring up and up, closer to the stars each second. Tonks laughed and Remus joined in, their happiness and love in music form. No longer was Tonks afraid because she knew what was happening.

She was going home.


	4. Lucius and Narcissa

A few weeks before the Christmas holidays and the Hogwarts castle was already covered with powdery snow. Despite the freezing winds, many people were out on the grounds on a Saturday morning.

"Snowball fight!" a young student had yelled, running about with a huge group throwing snow everywhere.

Usually, Lucius Malfoy would use his authority as a prefect to stop the hooligans; he had no time for noisy snow wars. Usually Lucius Malfoy would never be found outside sitting on the snow, preferring to avoid the nasty weather. However, Lucius Malfoy was too preoccupied to be concerned with these things. Sitting beside him on the snow was his girlfriend, Narcissa Black.

The sat facing the wide frozen lake, morning sunshine making the ice sparkle like a thousand diamonds.

"It's beautiful," Narcissa murmured, entranced by the glittering lake.

"When we get married I shall buy you as many diamonds and jewels as you want," Lucius replied, more absorbed by her than the lake. It was a known fact that soon after Hogwarts Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black would be joined together in holy matrimony. Their betrothal hadn't exactly been arranged, nor had Lucius properly proposed to her. As soon as they'd started dating, though, it seemed everyone had wanted them to get married. They were a very respectable match, and both families approved of it. To some extent, their relationship was there because both Lucius and Narcissa were worried that if they broke up their families would hate them.

That annoyed Lucius Malfoy. He hated being controlled by others; he enjoyed bossing people around. And to think that his family had forced him to make a decision about his life; Lucius scowled.

Then he looked at Narcissa and smiled. It didn't matter what their families said or did. Lucius did truly care for Narcissa. Narcissa stared into Lucius's eyes and smiled back.

"I love you Lucius," she whispered, leaning on his shoulder.

He stroked her arm and thought about his home, his pureblood way of life. People married for status, wealth and power. Love didn't fit into the equation; it was just an insignificant emotion, sometimes a weakness. But gazing into her mesmerizing grey eyes, at her thick yellow hair and soft, pale skin, the 'insignificant emotion' overwhelmed him.

"I love you too," he said warmly, despite the coldness of the weather, or the coldness of the pureblood status that ran through his veins.

"Lucius," Narcissa asked quietly, standing up.

"What is it?" he said, confused.

"Do you think we can skate on the lake?"

Lucius frowned, puzzled by his girlfriend's odd request. "Why would you want to do that?"

She shrugged and replied, "It'd be fun. I could transfigure our shoes into ice skates if you'd like."

The first thought that ran through Lucius's head was Malfoys don't have fun. Neither do most purebloods: it would be a bad example to the people of lesser statuses, gallivanting around like a bunch of idiotic mudbloods. The other day he'd confiscated a pair of ice skates from a young mudblood girl, and shown them to his friends so they could laugh at the stupid muggle invention.

However, when Lucius saw the pleading look on Narcissa's face, he couldn't say no.

"Fine," he muttered. Narcissa beamed and grabbed Lucius's gloved hand. She led him onto the ice and halted, pointing her wand at her shoes. After muttering a small incantation she seemed to grow by a few inches: really, her shoes had just grown skates. Then she did the same thing to her boyfriend's shoes.

"Great, now we can skate!" Narcissa exclaimed with a little laugh. Still holding Lucius's hand, she set off gracefully. Lucius followed a lot less steady than his girlfriend. They skated in silence except for Narcissa's occasional advice to help Lucius, who was struggling quite a bit. Malfoys were supposed to look dignified at all times: wobbling around on ice skates, being pulled along by your girlfriend wasn't what most people would call dignified. But just seeing the glee in Narcissa's eyes, her quiet laughter, her wide smile, he forgot all his complaints. In fact, when he ignored his pureblood pride, Lucius found himself beginning to enjoy his skating session.

When they decided to go back to the castle, at lunchtime, Lucius realized he'd had a great time. He grinned at Narcissa, once she'd finished changing their shoes back to normal. She smiled back.

"I knew you'd enjoy it," she said. Another thing about Malfoys: they were never wrong. It seemed that day Lucius was scrapping quite a few traditions.


	5. Harry and Ginny

A/N: This chapter was combined with thtonegirlll's Killers Challenge so the chapter is named and based on a Killers song.

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I can't stay

Ginny lay in bed crying silently. Her curtains were shut and her roommates were asleep, so no one would be able to see her moment of weakness. Ginny was thankful for this; as one of the leaders of the DA she had to remain strong.

Hogwarts, with the Carrows as teachers and Snape as headmaster, was hell. Everyday more children tortured, more disappearances into the dungeons, more tears. The other teachers tried to help in every way they could: letting exhausted students sleep through lessons; giving words of comfort; some teachers even taught self defensive spells during lessons.

Ginny hated to admit it, but that wasn't the reason she was crying. Although it made her feel selfish and ashamed, she cried because of Harry. He had left her, scared and alone. Why hadn't he let her come too? She could have helped him so much. But instead, he had gone. Part of her hated him for leaving her, while most of her was terrified for him. What if he didn't come back? Every day Ginny tried to shut out those doubts and fears. She had to, and so did everyone. Of course everybody was afraid for the outcome of the war, for themselves and for their loved ones. Of course everyone knew their chances of winning the war were near hopeless, and even if they did win there would be so many casualties and sacrifices. But if they kept thinking about it, if they didn't block out the fear, then they'd lose. Because in war, Ginny had learned, hope was everything.

Night time was the only time Ginny let herself fear. The only time she cried, let out her emotions, took of the mask of bravery and optimism was when she curled up at night to go to sleep. Many students had broken down sobbing in class, in DA lessons, at mealtimes, anywhere. Ginny hadn't. She had to stay strong.

Eventually, Ginny fell asleep thinking of messy black hair and green eyes. Her dreams, however, were nightmares.

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Lying awake in their tent, Harry hoped. He begged god or fate or whatever spirit was controlling the universe for one thing: to keep Ginny safe. He knew it was selfish: he could and should have been thinking of ways to complete Dumbledore's mission and get horcruxes. But the thought that Ginny might not be safe, that she could be hurt or worse; Harry just couldn't think about it, it hurt too much.

She should be safe at Hogwarts, he reassured himself. Even with Snape as headmaster, it was still Hogwarts. The safest place in the world, Harry's first real home. Harry felt guilty about leaving Ginny behind but he knew he was right. His mission was dangerous and Ginny was young; she could get hurt. Just thinking about her made Harry wish he hadn't been the one to defeat Voldemort. If he hadn't been on the stupid mission he could have stayed with Ginny. I can't stay…the thought rushed through Harry's mind. Mission or not, he was wanted by the ministry. He couldn't stay with Ginny.

Hope, as it helped many others through tough times, spurred Harry on. One day, maybe, if he survived, he and Ginny could get back together again. Hopefully.

In the silence of the night, coldness seeping through the thin tent walls, Harry hoped.


	6. Frank and Alice

A/N: This chapter was combined with Dream-Like-State's Numbered Story Lines Challenge. The part in bold is the story line that I got.

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Frank/Alice

At the end of a hot summers day, standing in the astronomy tower watching the sun set were two people. One was a tall dark haired boy, arm wrapped around the waist of the shorter blonde girl. They stood in silence, taking in the glorious scene. The Hogwarts grounds were bathed in the dimming sunlight, backing onto towering mountains. A cool breeze rustled the grass.

"I am going to miss this place," Frank Longbottom murmured, wistfully eyeing the whomping willow, the quidditch pitch and forbidden forest.

Alice replied, "It is a wonderful school." She was leaning on her boyfriend, her head barely reaching his chin.

"I don't want to go," he said, voice suddenly becoming harsh. "It's really not fair; we'll never see it again."

"Frank, you know that's not true," Alice tried to comfort him.

"It is! And I've had so many good times in here: I did my first real wand magic, and made so many friends here." He turned to face Alice. "I met you here. I fell in love with you here."

Alice leaned up and kissed him softly. When their lips parted, Alice began to speak quietly. "**If there's anything I've learned, it's this. Life isn't about the good things. It's about the bad things, the bizarre things, the complicated things and when that's all over... _then_ it's about the good things**."

Frank frowned slightly, puzzled. "**Then what's the point**?"

"Well, you go through life and all the good things end too soon and bad things seem to happen all the time," Alice said. Frank seemed even more confused than before. Alice continued, "You just have to keep fighting. Do as much good as you can, destroy as much evil as you can. No matter how tough things get, soldier on. Because then you're ready for the next life."

"Oh, so then it's good things?"

"Exactly" Alice replied cheerfully. "This life is like a war. You fight and fight and fight some more, because that's the only way you'll ever get to the good things."

Alice's words of comfort hadn't exactly cheered Frank up. However, he did seem thoughtful. For a while they stood in silence, then Frank asked, "What happens if you're not strong enough?"

"I'm not sure, but then I don't really know if any of this is true. Still, I think, if you're not strong enough, you'll probably have to do it again. Life, that is. You'll have to go through life after life after life, learning to fight and then when you're strong enough, then you get to go to the 'good things' place."

"I never knew you believed this," Frank muttered, "Is that why you want to become an auror?"

"Yes, "Alice replied simply, now facing the grounds again.

"So, that's your philosophy on life then?" he asked.

"Yes it is, Frank. I thought it might help you, so you won't feel so bad tomorrow when we leave Hogwarts."

"Strangely it does." Frank spoke in a slightly distant voice, as though his mind was far away. "It puts things in perspective. If I get all upset about leaving school, how will I cope when other bad things happen? Because we both know they will happen."

"And when they do, we'll be there, fighting against them," Alice said determinedly.

"That's my soldier girl," Frank said with a smile. He held Alice's hand and they turned their backs to the now dark Hogwarts grounds. Together they descended the astronomy tower steps. Even though they knew with a war coming they'd been in for some tough times, it didn't matter, as long as they could face them together.


End file.
